On September 3rd 2017, University AME Zion Church Celebrated it 99th Anniversary. Our special guest speaker for the day was Bishop Staccato Powell the presiding prelate of the Western Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

University A.M.E. Zion Church celebrated its annual Men's Day on Sunday, May, 17. Men of all ages and backgrounds came out to worship and praise the Lord! We saw men lead in every facet of ourSunday service from welcoming people, ushering, taking photographs, leading the music, working the media and much more. Men's Day 2015 was the start of a new level of ministry for the men of University!

This five-week series studies what it's like to live a Christ-focused life in a selfie-centered world. Topics include finding compassion, authenticity, relationships, contentment, and rest among all the pressures and distractions of social media.

University was happy to host its annual Greek Sunday celebration on April 12. We were honored to have representatives from Alpha Phi Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Omega Psi Phi, and Alpha Kappa Alpha join us for worship and fellowship. We celebrated the rich history of these fraternities and sororities with presentations from Regina Wallace-Jones of Delta Sigma Theta, and Jim White of Omega Psi Phi.

We were blessed to have an uplifting worship service in which Pastor Smith preached the sermon "A Few Good Men." After the service everyone had a great time hanging out in the courtyard. We look forward to next year’s Greek Sunday!

“The Church is the Church only when it exists for others...not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell men of every calling what it means to live for Christ, to exist for others.”

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

We mourn the tragic deaths of Mike Brown and Eric Garner and the subsequent injustice in the criminal case against the police officers who's actions led to their deaths. As a believers in Christ, it is our duty not to sit idle as we see this kind of injustice being done in the world. We need to show our solidarity and we need to be intentional in our prayers to God to address these tragedies. Our first step is for everyone to wear all black to church on December 14th for "National Black Solidarity Sunday." We will stand with entire AME Zion Church, along with AME, CME, Progressive Baptist, Black Presbyterian, COGIC, Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, PAW and College of Bishop in this action. Tomorrow you will stand with millions of other Christians of many different denominational & racial backgrounds in declaring to the world that "Black Lives Matter"

University AME Zion Church is proud to present "The True Gift of Christmas" a special Christmas Musical for the entire family. This special production features some of the best Gospel voices in the entire bay area. Everyone is invited to attend.

On Thanksgiving Eve, volunteers from the church took time away from their busy schedules and familes to give back to the community. The members at University were instrumental in providing boxes of food to dozens of families. University partnered with the Ecumenical Hunger Program in East Palo Alto. The Missionary's at the church held a canned food drive and donated 100's of cans to EHP. So far, EHP has provided over 700 boxes of food to families in need this holiday season. If you would like to donate to the Ecumenical Hunger Program, please email us at info@universityamez.com.

University AME Zion Church is part of a larger connectional church which has stood for Freedom for over 200 years. We as the local church in the Palo Alto area stand in total agreement with the positon presented below by the Board of Bishops of church. It is at times like this that the church must lead our communities in addressing the continuing issues of equality and social justice in America. The University Church family is proactively in dialogue to ways to address the manifestation of those legal, moral and spiritual wrongs in our community.

We are praying for the family of Mike Brown and the many other victims of police brutality that have been let down by a justice that won't even allow the case to goto trail.

Pastor Kaloma A Smith

OPEN LETTER FROM THE BOARD OF BISHOPS OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL ZION CHURCH – THE FREEDOM CHURCH

“OUR COUNTRY HAS BEEN INDICTED!”

“Let true justice prevail, so you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you” - Deuteronomy 16:20

The Board of Bishops of the AME Zion Church, known throughout our more than two hundred year history as “The Freedom Church”, is profoundly concerned by the lack of justice for the most marginalized in this country; for those in poverty, for those who are immigrants, and for those who are black or brown, young and living in urban communities.

This is most recently evidenced by the lack of an indictment in the killing of Michael Brown on the street in Ferguson, Missouri. While the facts may be disputed and the result of a fair trial might have deemed Officer Darren Wilson innocent, the failure of the prosecutor and the grand jury to refer it to full trial by jury leaves many unanswered questions and a festering sore in the community and across the nation.

We affirm that there is a time for everything, including healing but now is not that time…at least not yet. Now is the time to demand justice. Now is the time to feel deeply, repent sincerely, pray fervently, protest collectively, and plan strategically. Now is the time to lament the lost of the life of yet another unarmed, young black male at the hands of an officer who has sworn to “protect and serve” those lives. Now is the time to express our righteous anger that black lives are marginalized and devalued from the cradle to the grave. Now is the time to continually confront systems of racism, inequality, and injustice.

A call is issued to all persons of goodwill of every race, nationality, and economic status, to acknowledge the lingering and pernicious racism that impacts virtually every aspect of American society but has its most deadly consequences in the encounters between young black men and law enforcement and the judicial system.

Our country and her leaders must ask some penetrating questions. Have we been lulled into complacency after the achievements of the Civil Rights Movement, ignoring the remaining struggles in the areas of education, economics, and mass incarceration? Have we been deluded by greater inclusivity and access to public accommodations to erroneously believe ours to be a “post-racial” society? Have we, as religious leaders and the broader community, become so coopted by status, comfort, and materialism that our prophetic voices on behalf of the marginalized have been muted?

To understand the perspective and pain in our community, the tragic events in Ferguson cannot be viewed in isolation, they must be interpreted in light of similar incidents across the country. Young African American males are twenty one times more likely to be shot by police than whites. We grieve with the parents and family of Michael Brown, as we continue to pray for and grieve with the families of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Jonathan Ferrell, Kimani Gray, Kendrec McDade, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Aaron Campbell, Wendell Allen, Oscar Grant, and the hundreds of young black men, who though unarmed have been killed by police officers.

We also pray earnestly for the families of the thousands of youth killed in our cities by other black youth. Our outrage about unjustified police killings does not diminish by one iota our constant efforts to address the pandemic of violence in our own communities. We have and will continue to pursue all efforts to lift our youth out of poverty, crime, and prisons of inadequate education.

Once again, we call upon all municipalities to evaluate their current police training procedures in an effort to address racial and social biases, and take concrete, measurable steps to improve community/police relations. All police officers should be equipped with body cameras to provide support for good policing and deter abusive actions. Additionally, we challenge all municipalities to examine their recruitment and hiring procedures with the goal of moving towards a police force that reflects the community it serves.

Pastors, we encourage you to use this Sunday, the first Sunday in Advent, to preach and teach on social justice, reminding our congregations that the Lord came to dwell among us to bring salvation, liberty, and justice. GOD is still the GOD of the oppressed.

Weariness must not conquer our spirits. Apathy and despair are not options. We will never lose hope! The legacy of our people has been forged in the crucible of slavery, oppression, lynchings, pain, and suffering and we’ve never surrendered to the spirit of defeatism or anarchy. Our efforts will be intensified as we work within our denomination and beyond to develop strategies to address the multitude of issues impacting our community, as we also partner with others who advocate and work for justice and peace. Our testimony is that “we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us!”

This weekend at University Church the Missionaries held a can food drive for the Thanksgiving Holiday. The goal of this drive was to gather over 300 cans for families in need this Thanksgiving Holiday. I am happy to report the members and friends of University exceeded our goal. We are so pleased by the generosity of the entire University family which made the event a great success. The proceeds from this can drive will be distributed to two charities the Ecumenical Hunger Program and the Peninsula Ministers Wives and Spouses ministers